How to choose the right hard drive

Pt. 2 of 5 | 3:27 |

How to change a notebook hard drive

Tuesday August 24, 2010

It's important to understand the difference between

types of hard drives

before

installing a notebook hard drive

, so in this episode, we'll go over some of the essentials. We'll tell you the difference between

IDE and serial ATA

connections, why

hard drive speeds

matter. We'll also explain

how mechanical hard drives work

and why

solid state hard drives

are so expensive.

Download this episode now

Show Notes

- There are two different interface types for the hard drive.

- The most common currently is called serial ATA. You can tell these by the thin edge connector.

- The other is IDE, which are identified by the pin connectors on one side.

- Both of these types are considered mechanical and composed of a platter that spins around and is read by the hard drive head.

- There are two typical speeds for these hard drives, 5400 RPM and 7200 RPM.

- 7200 rotations per minute is faster for reading data but does run at higher temperatures.

- A different type of hard drive from these mechanical types is a solid state hard drive.

- Solid state drives are composed entirely of flash memory and there are no moving parts. This means that the drive is both faster and cooler.

- The downside to solid state drives is that they are a lot more expensive for higher capacities.

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